western governors university

Western Governors University (commonly known as WGU) is a private, non-profit, online university with more than 20,000 students. A competency-based university, WGU has students in all 50 states, and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Business, Teacher Education, Information Technology, and Health Professions, including Nursing. Western Governors University's Online MBA Ranked Among Top 10 Best Values by GetEducated.com . WGU was awarded Best of State for Online Education in 2009 and 2010. The university’s president, Robert Mendenhall, was named 2010 CEO of the Year by Utah Business Magazine.

The University was founded in 1997 by a bi-partisan group of 19 western governors with the mission to improve quality and expand access to post-secondary educational opportunities. WGU enrolled its first student in 1999. It is notable for offering a unique competency-based learning model in which students earn their degrees by demonstrating competence rather than by accumulating credit hours by spending time attending classes. Students can use their work, academic, and life experience (combined with learning new skills) to earn a college degree. A variety of learning resources, including standard textbooks, simulations, and webinars, are available to help students develop the new skills and competencies they need to advance in their degree programs. In many cases students are able to accelerate their time to degree completion.